


Our Vows Keep Us

by ComeAlongPond14



Series: Sparks verse [2]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bondage, Dom/sub, Light Bondage, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Profound Bond, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2013-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-06 02:17:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1101205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComeAlongPond14/pseuds/ComeAlongPond14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock and John take the next step in their relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Our Vows Keep Us

**Author's Note:**

> So, yeah, I felt so happy and Christmasy and loving toward you all (you cannot even imagine how much your comments mean to me!) that I felt like offering a little bonus present. Have a soulmate mini story. <3
> 
> The title is from a quote by relationship blogger Kemmy Nola.

“...and in this exchange of vows, you have chosen to commit to your soulmate bond, promising to remain faithful and loyal to your partner for the duration of your lives.” The officiant nodded to Mycroft, standing just behind his younger brother in the position of first witness. “Will there be tokens exchanged?”

“Indeed,” Mycroft murmured, offering the plain wooden box, which contained the simple black leather cuffs that Sherlock and John had chosen together.

The young Dominant pulled them out, handing the first one to his mate. He was positively vibrating with energy, and John couldn’t help but grin as Mycroft laid a steadying hand on his brother’s shoulder, supporting him wordlessly.

At the officiant’s wave of encouragement, Sherlock smiled blindingly at John, offering him his left arm. John raised the cuff he held, closing it over the pale wrist and sealing the buckle.

"I offer this cuff to you, as a symbol of your place in my life as my soulmate, my Dominant, and my life-long partner. It is my desire to belong to you and to follow and obey you wherever you choose to lead me." He recited the words they had learned with utter certainty and pride, and yet again Sherlock found himself blinking away obnoxiously persistent tears in the face of his sub’s love.

Running his fingers along the side of the cuff, he found the small notch in the leather, where a miniscule silver key had been embedded into the material. He tugged it free, holding it tightly as he accepted John’s offered right hand. He slid the slightly narrower black cuff around his sub’s wrist, pressing the clasp together and using the key to lock it. Then he allowed John to gently push the key back into its place in his own cuff, the tight leather holding it secure. Their hands found each other again as Sherlock returned the promise.

"I accept this cuff, and give you my own, as a symbol of the offering of yourself, and I give you my promise to love you, Dominate you, and care for you in every way that I am needed, as your soulmate and lover. You will belong to me from this day on, and I will do all within my power to protect you as you share in my life."

There was one another customary symbol, and after some discussion, the two had settled on their own variation of the traditional collaring component of a soulmate bond. Sherlock held out his hand, smiling gratefully at Lestrade as he handed over the military-issue dog tags they had ordered for the occasion, which were stamped with a very simple inscription:

**JHW**

**Property of SH**

**Owned and Loved**

Sherlock’s voice lowered slightly, becoming a little choked as he gazed at the unassuming silver rectangle in his hand. "Will you kneel for me, and take this symbol of my ownership to wear as a sign to us and all others, of your bond with me?"

John’s eyes were bright as well, but he seemed determined to keep his emotions in check. Without dropping his gaze from Sherlock’s face, he reached back and handed his cane to Lestrade, then sank to his knees with surprising grace and ease.

"I kneel as a sign of my submission to you, and acceptance of the symbol of your ownership. I will wear it proudly for all of my days. Sir."

Sherlock couldn’t repress the grin of pride--and lust, he wasn’t going to hide it--as he lifted his hands, carefully lowering the chain around John’s neck. The sight of the tags disappearing under his shirt collar, hanging so close to his heart, was overwhelming for the Dom.

“You now belong to me,” he all but whispered, his pleasure and excitement apparent in his face.

“I now belong to you,” John echoed back, reaching out to take Sherlock’s cuffed hand, and lifting it to his lips for a chaste kiss. Sherlock pulled him to his feet, tugging him into a fierce embrace and kissing him heatedly. John didn’t fight him, returning the kiss with a soft whimper of happiness.

Behind them, Mycroft cleared his throat in amusement, smiling at them smugly as they broke apart, John flushing prettily. Sherlock raised a hand to cup the back of his mate’s neck, loving the freedom to do so, and savoring the way that John leaned into his touch.

Lestrade held out the formally bound copy of the bond contract they had written together, and Mycroft laid it out for them to review once over, briefly, then sign together. With that, the ceremony was complete, and both the elder Holmes and the D.I. stepped back to allow the newly bound mates to leave the room, past their applauding guests.

They were in the Holmes family estate, where several generations of Holmes Dominants--and the rare submissive, a designation which Sherlock assured John would never be neglected by the family--had held their bond ceremonies. In their case, Sherlock’s childhood bedroom and study were also here, and they had been warmly assured that they were welcome to remain and celebrate in private.

And that was just what they were going to do, judging by the way Sherlock had barely gotten them a few hallways away from the room containing their witnesses and friends, before he had slammed John against a dark-panelled wall.

The submissive grunted in surprise as he found himself pinned by his lover’s tall, lanky body, laughing breathlessly as Sherlock began kissing a hot trail down the side of his throat, impatiently tugging the collar of his dress shirt aside, seemingly attempting to use his teeth to imprint the dog tag chain into the skin of his mate’s throat.

“You know your ro-- _ah_!” John groaned in bliss as Sherlock’s hands tugged the hem of his shirt free, his long dexterous fingers sliding beneath to rub over the sensitive skin of his stomach. “You know your room--is just--down the hallway? No--oh, fuck, Sherlock...” His head thudded against the wall as the Dom reached his very sensitized nipple, pinching firmly and making him buck his hips forward. “No...interruptions?”

Sherlock laughed against his throat, making John shudder. “I doubt anyone is even in this wing, knowing what today is,” he murmured hotly, yanking until he managed to pop off the top button of John’s shirt.

“Oy, that’s expensive,” John growled, but there was no real venom in it. “And what-- _bloody_ fucking hell!” he yelped, as Sherlock hastily undid the button and zipper of his trousers, one hand shoving inside to grasp his prick.

“No pants, again, John?” Sherlock chuckled and bit lightly at the cord of his neck, leaving a glaring red mark. “So good for me, always so good.”

“Prat,” his mate retorted fondly, hooking his bad leg around Sherlock’s waist and bucking forward, rubbing their straining erections together, and laughing delightedly as he elicited a moan of pleasure from the Dominant. “There, knew I could get you, too.”

Sherlock’s lips ghosted across his mate’s ear, his breathing labored and his dropping another octave. “You _always_ ‘get’ me, John...just the scent of you drives me wild.” His fingers curved over his lover’s arse, and John groaned and kissed him wildly, their mouths sliding wetly over each other.

Tearing away, the sub managed to remember his earlier thought. “What--what was that about today?”

Sherlock’s voice was liquid sin. “Today is the day I make you mine. By the time I am finished with you today, you will be unable to say anything but my name...and perhaps ‘ _harder_ ’ and ‘ _please_.’”

John grinned at the familiar promise, jumping up slightly to get his other leg around Sherlock’s waist, loving the feeling of his mate’s strong hands holding him up, supporting him completely. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” he taunted softly, and Sherlock’s eyes lit with delicious promise.

* * *

“...right, I might believe you now,” John muttered, glaring playfully up at the black fur-lined cuffs, which were keeping his hands restrained firmly to the fairly elaborate iron headboard of Sherlock’s bed.

The Dom himself merely smirked, standing at the foot of the bed and regarding his mate with a rather hungry stare. “Well, that’s good,” he said softly. “Doesn’t mean you’re getting out of this, luv.”

John returned his gaze to his lover, smiling affectionately. “You said it on purpose, that time.”

Those beautiful glasz eyes glinted with a knowing spark. “And I definitely meant it.”

Then he ruined the moment with a soft swish of leather as he raised the object he held into view, and John’s breath caught as the soft-edged flogger flowed tantalizingly over his mate’s pale hands. He knew how desperate he must look, his whole body quivering, and his cock hard and leaking against his belly. He would be writhing properly, but Sherlock had quite smartly bound his ankles to the baseboard with silk ropes, the bastard.

“That for me?” he asked, trying and failing to fake looking uneasy. His Dom knew him too well.

Sherlock chuckled, climbing up to kneel on the bed, flicking the handle so that the leather tongues of the flogger lapped teasingly at the sub’s hips. The barest hint of contact against his cock had John whimpering needfully, his hips thrusting uselessly into the air.

The Dom shifted forward, moving easily to straddle his mate’s thighs, grinning down at him as he trailed the flogger over him with agonizingly slow movements, just teasing. Then he leaned down, letting his breath brush over his mate’s mouth as he whispered to him.

“If I use the flogger for its intended purpose...I will let you come eventually, but only if you can do so from the stimulation of the flogger alone.” As John whimpered in protest at that, Sherlock chuckled and thrust two fingers into his mouth, hushing him. “However, I have a rather more....inventive idea for it, if you’ll allow me. I’d suggest a different object, but I’m feeling adventurous, and it’s the thinnest item we have, for this purpose.”

John’s eyes suddenly widened above Sherlock’s hand, getting the hint, and the Dominant grinned at him. “I take it you like the thought?” he murmured, and John tried to nod--but Sherlock held him still with a firm grip on his jaw.

“Good,” he said lightly, then sat up, almost lazily wiping John’s saliva off on his chest. The sub groaned, wriggling his hips in search of non-existent friction, and Sherlock laughed. He knew that John secretly loved being treated like a toy, an object for his use, but they hadn’t explored that knink for a while--not since before...well...everything. And he knew his mate wasn’t ready for it just yet. They would get here.

He held the flogger where John could see it, contemplating the leather-bound handle. “You’ll need some preparation, to be able to take this. But I think I’d like to see it get a bit wet. How does that sound?”

Without another noise, John opened his mouth widely, waiting obediently.

Sherlock leaned down to bite a fierce mark of approval onto the already reddened flesh of his chest, grinning as John cried out his name in grateful pain-and-pleasure. “My good mate,” he murmured, pushing the handle of the flogger past his sub’s lips. John’s teeth closed over it, holding it tightly as he sucked firmly over the end.

Sherlock set to work, slicking his fingers with lube and beginning slowly, reaching back to push one digit gently inside. John moaned lustfully around the flogger, pushing his hips down to meet the intrusion.

“So good for me,” Sherlock repeated, watching John’s face hungrily as he worked his finger in and out, loosening the muscle until he could manage two. “God, John. You are so _beautiful_.”

John keened around the flogger, the sound taking a form suspiciously similar to the word, “More.” Testing, Sherlock began to work in a second, then grinned as the sub nodded eagerly, bucking to let him in. It took very little to reach three.

And then Sherlock was moving, sliding down John’s body without withdrawing his fingers, dropping featherlight kisses onto the sub’s flushed skin. Watching his thrusting fingers, the Dom smiled in appreciation at his mate’s receptive body, taking him so well. “I think you deserve to be thoroughly fucked, and at the same time, to come down my throat, for your first orgasm of the night. How does that sound?” He beamed up at John, who was staring at him without lust-blown eyes over the curve of the flogger. “Yes, just the first one, luv. There will be several--as many as you think you can give me.” He laughed gleefully as his sub’s eyes rolled back in his head slightly, reaching up to tug the flogger free.

Lathering the handle in lube, he carefully set it at his mate’s now-gaping entrance, pushing slowly. John threw his head back with a howled, “ _Sherlock, God, so good_!” and the Dom couldn’t help his delighted little laugh as his mate writhed around the intruding toy, his body accepting it and his voice cracking as he cried out declarations of love and need and devotion.

Leaning up over his mate, Sherlock smiled at John’s rather dazed expression, even as he took his lover’s beautifully hard cock in hand. “You can come whenever you need to, luv,” he whispered, and sank his mouth down over him.

John bucked up with a shout, his cock ploughing into his Dom’s throat as he tried to ride both sensations at once, fucking himself down onto the toy while pushing into his mate’s mouth. Sherlock loved every sound that slipped from John’s lips as the sub rocked back and forth, his hips beginning to stutter as he neared orgasm, the stimulation to both his cock and prostate at once overwhelming him.

When John came that first time, Sherlock swallowed it down with pleasure, loving the way the orgasm swept completely through his mate, leaving him spent and limp, and utterly content. Even through the handle of the toy, he could feel the way the tension simply seeped out of the submissive, replaced by total and utter bliss.

John’s voice was hoarse from shouting. “Lemme...out of the cuffs to...do you.”

Sherlock chuckled lovingly, kneeling up to unlock the handcuffs, but pushing John’s hands down to the mattress when the sub reached toward his own erection. “Rest, luv,” he whispered, folding his arms around his mate. Remembering himself in time, he reached down, easing the flogger free. John gave a faint whimper, wriggling closer to him at the over-sensitive contact.

“Let me,” he mumbled, and Sherlocked leaned back, unsure if he should let his exhausted mate do anything. But there it was, the spark in John’s eyes that told him not to even try to dissuade his lover. Sherlock snorted and nodded, rolling onto his back.

John shifted down, ignoring the robes still binding his ankles, and pinned Sherlock’s legs with his weight. As the Dom shivered in anticipation, his mate shot him a truly lascivious grin, then sank his mouth down onto him.

 _Well, this certainly won’t last long_.

* * *

When Sherlock had come, shouting John’s name, his lover slipped free of the ropes to fetch them both some water, and then pulled a blanket over them as they curled around each other.

John lay on his side with his head on Sherlock’s chest, absently tracing patterns over the Dom’s cuff with his fingertips. As he touched the key, Sherlock lightly reached up to press against the lock on John’s own cuff.

“Any regrets?” he asked lightly, his voice teasing, despite the insecurity he couldn’t pretend not to feel.

John’s voice was sleepy and content. “Not a chance in hell. You?” There was only amused certainly there.

Sherlock chuckled. “Never.” Still circling the sealed lock with his fingertip, he took a deep breath. “John?”

“Hm?”

“Will you marry me?”

He felt John stiffen, and he kept going in a rush. “I know we could have done that today, as well, but I wanted it to be unique, separate, and I wanted it to be different when I asked, and I just--”

John’s voice was filled with laughter. “Sherlock, shut up. Of course I will, you twat.” He turned his face, their mouths meeting in a kiss of pure and simple love, and the promise of so much more.

When they broke apart, John drew back slightly to smirk up at his lover. “Could be dangerous,” he whispered softly, as if sharing a conspiratorial thought.

His soulmate grinned back wolfishly. “Oh, God, yes,” he replied, before rolling John onto his back--the sub squealed adorably in surprise--for another round.

**Author's Note:**

> The boys' vows are drastically altered versions of the vows described in this explanation of a Dom/sub collaring ceremony: http://www.ladyanns.com/collaring.html. Love it.


End file.
